HIS HD7850/Cooler Question

[0rwell]

Hey guys, my first post here, but I'm a very long-time lurker

I'm looking to buy a HD7850, and HIS' card seems to be the cheapest iteration; http://www.hisdigital.com/gb/product2-698.shtml at £190.

Now, while the little upgrade from an XFX 6870 will be nice, the main reason I'm upgrading is because of the terrible noise my 6870 (single fan) creates. My girlfriend has the Black Edition of the same card which has 2 fans, and it's virtually silent. Am I right in assuming dual fan cards are generally quieter?

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had any experience of this particular version of the card, or if I should spend a bit more and get the dual fanned Sapphire/MSI card (£200/£210), which I've found reviews on (unlike the HIS) and is said to be silent?


Thanks.

(Vouching for your particular version is appreciated too. Near-silence is what I'm after)

 

[Cleeecooo]

Good morning, an welcome to the forums

The reason your GFs card is quieter is because it is a non reference cooler. It's not necessarily that more fans=quieter, it's more a case of non ref vs ref coolers.

With regards to your current card, I'd RMA it as its still within warranty and just get a new one as a replacement

If however you're using it as an excuse to justify a new card (were not hushing, we've all done it before ) then I would spend the extra to get MSI or Gigabyte. Both companies make great cards with excellent coolers. For silence, the gigabyte windfirce cooler is often regarded as one of the best, but the MSI TF coolers are also excellent, but more based on performance.

I'd get either of those over HIS because HIS are terrible with RMAs and CS, whereas gigabyte an MSI are two of the best companies around

 

[0rwell]

Thanks for your reply. I thought the reference card/cooler looked something like this?

This is the card I have:

Either way, they seem to be known as a noisy card (though great value I must admit) by most user reviews I've seen. I have thought about perhaps changing my case, but as you say, it's an excuse to get a new card
I don't think I can RMA it as I've been using it for a couple of months, also I don't think there is anything mechanically wrong with it anyway, it's just a noisy git.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll look into the MSI card, I just wish the other cards were a little cheaper. Every extra £10 seems to matter after you drop nearly 2 ton on a card imo anyway.

Do you, or anyone else know if the Sapphire's cooler is any good? It's the same cooler they've used on previous cards I think. And it's a little bit cheaper.

Cheers.